Kingdom Hearts: Shards of Darkness
by Shuu
Summary: An AU re-telling of Kingdom Hearts. The Disney Kingdom has been replaced with something more; and there are hidden secrets lurking within these strange new worlds, and strange new faces...
1. New Paths and Strange Places

Authors Forward: Welcome to my Alternative Universe Kingdom Hearts fanfiction. I would first and foremost like to warn all of my pending readers of the content of this fanfiction; it is a re-write of the original plot, with a lot of extra stuff added in there. New worlds, new characters; a new setting, too. The Disney Kingdom has been replaced with something else, and Sora's companions are different.

**To many, this is a Mary-Sue fanfiction**.

If you don't like this, please do not read any further. I fully understand what this is; I am writing it for my own enjoyment, but I upload it for others to read. If you don't like it, that's fine by me; if you do, that's fine as well. But please don't let me know how sueish this is. I am TOTALLY aware of it!

Thank you, and enjoy!

**New Paths and Strange Places**

Darkness. A dark shadow that loomed over a once beautiful blue sky of an island, now broken and shattered by the tendrils of darkness. Faces of people he knew, faces of people he didn't know. Friends, allies, things. Flashes. Images of what was, what is, and what could be. Was it just a dream? A sick illusion of a dark Fate of the place that he knew, the place he had grown up in. A place swallowed by the Shadows and the promise of Darkness. Of a door that he would soon open. What was it all? What did it mean.

Kairi.

Riku.

What had happened to them…?

Suddenly he jolted awake from that nightmare that he thought had occurred to his home. Blue eyes looked towards a sky swallowed by night, with beautiful stars that glistened in the night. It was only then that he looked down and around his surroundings.

A dark ally-way where crates, barrels, trashcans and dumpsters resided. He rested upon a coble-stone path littered with trash and something that didn't smell all too pleasant. This place didn't seem familiar. With his head in a daze, he didn't even notice that he wasn't alone in this ally. A pair of curious golden eyes peered up from the ground, beyond the boy's large yellow shoes. The eyes were framed by soft brown fur and a pair of large, long rabbit ears that fell onto the ground beside the small and fluffy creature. The animal tilted its head sideways and looked up at the boy with a curious glance. With a few more blinks, it realized something, and bounced once into the air, revealing a bunny-like body.

The sudden movement caught the boy's attention as he ran his fingers through his spiked brunette hair. His eyes snapped down towards the animal and tilted his head as he looked at it. How cute…

"Meya!" It said with enthusiasm and continued to bounce up and down. Bouncing…giggling…darkness! Suddenly the boy snapped up to his feet as it struck him like lighting - he wasn't on his Island anymore! Where was he?! And more importantly, where were…?

"Kairi! Riku!!" He yelled as he dashed off into town, which left the poor creature in the dust and it looked quite confused at the sudden burst of energy from the boy. Shortly after the boy had rushed out of the ally, the creature made a meow-acking noise and started off after him. It couldn't let him get away! After all, he was the lock!

The boy rushed into the city and hastily looked around. This really wasn't his home! The houses were completely different and it wasn't free and open like his Island was. All cramped and city like! But how did he get here? More over, what happened to his friends, his family? _His island_?

Slowly, he drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes, his gloved hands clenching.

"Okay, Sora," He said to himself in a re-assured voice, "Calm down. Being rushed about this isn't going to help!" Another deep breath, "I'll just…ask around town a bit. See what's going on, where I am…what could have happened to my home! Right. They'll be able to help me! I'm sure Riku and Kairi are here, too! _Nothing_ to worry about!" He glanced around and then let out a defeated sigh. "Aww, who am I _kidding_?! This place is huge! It'll take forever to find them!!" He sighed again as he spotted an item shop across the way. Maybe they went into that place. "Well, the only way to find them is to start looking!" After the little self pep-talk, the boy, Sora walked towards the shop district to ask around, not even noticing someone whom he walked past.

"The _lock_…?" A soft female voice said as Sora walked by, though he failed to notice it. This was followed by a round of loud meyas, which apparently came from that creature from before. The creature bounced up and down before a young woman as it explained its story to her. The woman pressed her hand to her pale chin and thought for a moment, her murky violet eyes gazed down from her wavy, royal purple bangs which hung in her eyes. The creature continued to explain to her as the woman sighed.

"Ryo-chan, you got the terms mixed up," The woman sighed, "We're looking for the '_key_,' not the lock. But, at least he's here…so we're in the right direction. He couldn't have gotten too far. Shidou will want to know this as well." The creature meyaed in compliance to what the woman had said. , "Lets go."

Sora pushed the heavy wooden door open that lead to the item's shop – well, that's what he assumed, given the gigantic sign hanging over the door stating that fact. To his astonishment, he noticed a trio of ducks, which were clad in t-shirts and baseball caps, who tended to their stock. Not humans. Ducks. Real, living ducks, walking like humans! Okay, he _really _wasn't on his island anymore! There were no animals in costumes there! More over, they didn't walk on two legs and had intelligence about them! For a while, he gawked at them, his jaw slack and his bright blue eyes wide in both shock and curiosity. Finally, one of them noticed him as he store at them, and looked up at him.

"_What_? You haven't seen ducks before?" He said in a snarky tone. Sora flushed and shook his head, not really sure how to react to ducks that _talked_.

"Err, I-I have…it's just that…" He hesitated as he tried to find words that would hopefully not offend these nice peop-- err, _ducks_. "…It's just that I uh…I haven't seen any like you before?" The duck that addressed him rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Really now? You must be from some back-water world, then!"

"W-world …?" Sora stuttered in shock as he store down at the little animal. World? Did he mean that…did he mean that he was on another _world_?! His jaw fell to the ground in astonishment. Another world! They really_ did _exist out there! But, if he was here, then what happened to his Island…?

"Jesus, kid!" The duck snorted, "You really _are _from some back-water world! Judging from your reaction, you don't know about other worlds out there, right?" Sora nodded his head in response, unable to say anything else at this point, "Well, then. You're in the right place!" The duck grinned and hopped up onto the counter, where the other two followed suit.

"You're in Traverse Town!" The one in blue grinned, "This place is the meeting point of all worlds. Generally, if you get lost or something like that, you end up here!"

"Because this is a nexus," The green one continued, "Most travelers come here first. We've got expert ship builders here, travel guides, places that make great resorts or tourist attractions! Just name it, and we've got your traveling needs here!" Sora nodded his head as he took this all in, though at the moment, it was a little too much to handle.  Sure, he had always dreamed about other worlds, but just this morning, he didn't think any actually existed! And now he was in a strange world with ducks that _talked!_

"But…" The one in red said as he folded his arms - wings - _whatever_, "If you ended up here and didn't know the fact that other worlds existed, well…" Sora froze and gulped loudly. The tone of voice that duck spoke in wasn't good. And with the judgment of their previous conversation, he was going to tell him in the bluntest way possible. "…Well, it just means you found an invisible stream that allowed you to slip from one world to the next. It happens sometimes." Oh god! That was a relief! Sora breathed out a deep sigh, though it still didn't ease his troubled mind. He knew where he was, and how he probably got there…but what about his friends? And his island? What about that darkness and the monsters that attacked it?

With another deep breath, Sora sorted his priorities. First, he had to find his friends. Then he could worry about his world! Somehow, something deep inside of him said that his friends weren't on the Island anymore, but someplace else…kind of like what happened to him. And…what about what he remembered? The Darkness consuming Riku, Kairi disappearing into thin air? Something deep within his gut told him that they were out there, somewhere, waiting to be found. And Sora was the only one who could do it!

"So, is there anything we might be able to help you with?" The red one said with a grin, "An item or two? A potion, a new weapon, some candy?" Sora blinked. Ah, well, he couldn't really blame them for trying to sell him stuff…they were, despite their ducky appearances, still shop owners, always willing to ring as much money out of a customer as possible. Money which Sora, unfortunately, didn't have.

"Err, sorry guys, I don't have any money with me…" He didn't even get to finish the sentence before one of the ducks cut him off.

"Then get out of our store! We _hate_ window shoppers!" The red-clad duck snapped his wing towards the door, the other two followed suit afterwards. A distraught sigh escaped from Sora's throat as he gave a weak wave of his hand towards the trio. Jeez, he didn't even get a chance to ask about his friends!

"Well, thanks for your help anyway." He said as he headed towards the door.

"And next time," The one in green shouted, "_Come in with some cash, bozo_!"

"Jeez," Sora muttered as he walked out of the item shop and glanced over his shoulder, "I didn't think they would be so rude! I mean, I'm lost and looking for my friends! They didn't need to bet that _mean_ about my lack of money! Honestly…" The boy sighed and shook his head. Even though he had been booted out of one store because he didn't have anything to buy anything with, he dared to enter another in hopes that the same thing wouldn't happen to him again. He turned his eyes onto an 'accessory' shop, quite possibly a place where someone might find jewelry or something of that nature. Hey, maybe he'd have better luck in there. Kairi might be in someplace like that!

As he opened the door, he spotted a rather gruff-and-tough around the edges kind of a man - an older, middle-aged man - who stood behind the counter. The man was hissing a string of obscenities under his breath as he tinkered with what looked like to be a pocket watch. He took deep drags from his cigarette as he pried and prodded the golden trinket with a screwdriver. Well, that man certainly wasn't the kind of person he was _expecting_ to find in a place that sold pretty, sparkly items to girls. With a loud growl, the man threw the item across the room where it smacked against the wall and popped open, and fell to the ground.

"Fucking piece of shit!" The man hissed, "_Now_ you open you little bastard?!" With another growl, he opened a tool drawer and stuffed the screwdriver inside and angrily snuffed out his cigarette in a near-by ash tray. Sora store up at the man with slightly wide eyes. _Hardly _the type of fellow to run a place like that! Not only that, but he had never heard so many curse words in a single sentence! In shock, his mouth gaped open as he wondered if he should even _approach_ this guy.

"U-um…" His voice feebly squeaked out, which drew out the man's attention. The blonde-man blinked and snorted as he leaned over the counter.

"Err, sorry 'bout that, shrimp," He muttered, "The damn watch wouldn't open…anyway, what can I do for 'ya?" It took Sora a few moments to snap out of his daze of 'oh-my-god-this-guy-is-crazy.' He blinked again and, after her realized he was still gawking, shook his head and laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head. "Well? I ain't got all day!" The man coarsely responded. Sora yelped slightly and laughed again as he approached the counter.

"W-well…" He started, "I'm a little…uh, lost, I guess. Just this evening I was on my isl-- err, I mean, my World. Next thing I know, I'm here! I'm beginning to wonder if it was all a dream or not…" The man snorted and fumbled with a pack of cigarettes and withdrew one and popped it into his mouth. As he lit it, he cut off Sora's little explanation.

"And?" He muttered as he took a drag from it, "What's yer point?" Sora blinked and decided to skip all of the unimportant stuff and get right to what he was looking for.

"Er, what I mean to say is…" He said, "My friends, they disappeared with my home. I don't know where they are, but if I ended up here, I think they might have too! Do you think you could help me find them?" With another long drag from his cigarette, the man blew out a puff of smoke and put his hands on his hips.

"Well, if ya did end up here without a ship, and they vanished like you…" He mused, "Yeah, the might be here. Can't say for sure. Whatt're their names?"

"Kairi and Riku," Well, this guy wasn't so bad after all! A little course, but otherwise he was _far_ more helpful then those rude ducks! "Kairi's a girl with short red-brown hair and blue eyes…a little shorter then I am and a little younger. Riku's a boy who's taller and older then I am, with long silver hair and aqua eyes." The man looked up and pondered for a moment as he puffed on his cigarette. After he flipped through his mind of people who he had met recently, he came up empty-handed and shrugged.

"Sorry, kid, can't say I've seen 'em." Sora drooped at this comment and sighed deeply as he gave a weak wave towards the man as he went to go out to ask some more people.

"Thanks for your help anyway, mister." The man arched an eyebrow at Sora and sighed as he wavered his hand.

"Hold on, kid. Ya don't need to go off in a slump just because _I _haven't seen 'em. Get yer ass back here!" Sora halted and turned around to look back at the man, "Do'ya think you could tell me _what _happened? I might be able to help…see'n is I know quite a bit about travelin' between worlds." The boy's face lit up. Finally, someone who wanted to help him! Sure, the man wasn't the most _ideal _to be talking about this kind of stuff, but at least he wanted to help. Eagerly, Sora walked over to the counter to look up at the man, though his eagerness faded when he recalled what had happened on his island. He looked to the ground with remorse in his eyes and sighed.

"I still don't know if it was a dream or if it was real," Sora said, "But, I guess it was real, if I ended up here. I was in my room and waiting for dinner to be ready, then suddenly this…black cloud formed over the island. I rushed out to see what was going on, and my friend's boats where there. My friend, Riku, got swallowed by the darkness, and then these…shadow-creatures appeared…And--"

"Wait, wait, hold it!" The man cut off, which caused Sora to snap his head up and glare slightly at him, "Did you say 'shadow creatures?'" Sora nodded, "Kinda buggy, golden eyes, crawls about on all fours?" Again, Sora nodded. "Shit..."

"W-what is it, mister?" He looked worriedly up at the man.

"…Nothin'," The man lied as he too a long, hard drag from his joint and stuffed it into the ashtray when there was nothing left to smoke, "I jus' didn't think that they'd spread so _quickly…_" Sora paled as he placed his hands on the counter. So those things that he dreamt about, the things on the island! They were real?! Then, Riku and Kairi, they were gone too?! And his home…?

"W-what are they?"

"…Nothin' of impotence," The man lied again as he withdrew another smoke and lit it. Sora pouted and would have retaliated, but figured he didn't want the same amount of wall-throwing as that poor pocket watch had to go through. He could tell the man was lying, but figured he'd find out sooner or later. As long as he could help Sora find his friends, he'd be okay with it.

"A-anyway…I'm Sora," He changed the subject from the one at hand.

"Cid Highwind," The man responded as he puffed out a long stream of smoke from his mouth. "So kid, you should start looking for 'em here. Chances are, if they're like you, the probably slipped into a stream that lead them to this point. Only way ta find 'em is to look, the good ol' fashion way. If you want any more help, you can come ta me, and I'll keep my eyes out for 'em too." Sora's face brightened that he had finally found some help, even though it was in this ill-mannered poor-spoken man named Cid.

"Thanks, Mr. Cid!"

"Just call me Cid," With a grunt, Cid snuffed out his third cigarette in this short time that he and Sora had talked, "And good luck, kid. You'll need it." Although the last phrase was a little confusing to Sora, he merely shrugged it off and waved as he went to exit the shop.

"Thanks! I'll see you around!" With a confident sigh, he opened the door and stepped out into the night street, and began to look for his friends and, maybe, a few answers as to what the heck was going on with him, or what happened…or, hell, everything! As soon as he found his friends, he'd start to ask questions. Yeah! Before he'd know it, Riku and Kairi would be back with him! Then they could all go home…if they had a home anymore, that is…

Cid had managed to gather himself up enough to grab that pesky pocket watch from the other side of the room. He snapped it close again and tried to open it, but to no avail. Sure enough, a string of obscenities flew from his mouth as he wrestled with the damn thing a bit before he stalked back to his counter. This time, he wasn't too enthralled in his attempt to repair the shiny golden thing to notice the door open again. He perked up to notice the pale-skinned woman and her rabbit-like companion, who rode on her shoulder. And when one says 'perked up,' they would mean in more then one way.

To say the least, the girl was a striking beauty, the only downside to her attractiveness was her unhealthy skin-completion, which nearly appeared to be like a cadavers. Her long, wispy bangs were somewhat parted on either side of her face, with shorter bangs brushed off to the side and somewhat hanging within her murky, violet eyes. The rest of her hair was cut in short wispy layers, with a long set of hair falling over her left shoulder. The main p portion of her hair was a deep royal purple color, with some portions of the hair against the back of her neck appearing to be black. Two stands of beads hung on either side of her face.

As Cid gazed at the woman, his eyes began to move downward from her face down her neck, which was adorned with a black scarf and a black necklace on a chain, holding a stylized pendant encircled in silver with an amethyst stone resting in the center. She wore a sleeveless, half-jacket with a high collar in black, and under it she wore some kind of pseudo corset, consisting of violet fabric, outlined in white with lavender ribbons, criss-crossing over her chest. It would have exposed a great deal of cleavage, save for the fact that she wore a tight-fitting black top under it. Over her top, she wore several Obi-like belts, the bottom one, starting just below her bust and just over the tops of her hips, was black adorned with swirling violet-and-white patterns, and the one over it was half the size and white, with black patterns within it. Two cloth belts tied around the obi's, the largest one tied off to her side and was violet in color, while the smaller, cord-like one was black and tied off just below the other one. The corset then stuck out from under the obi belt, where she wore extremely baggy black pants with various violet and white designs in them, near the bottom. Finally, she wore black boots with the toes cut out, black ribbons wrapped around her wrists and gloves that only covered the palms of her hand. The most interesting thing, however, where strange tribal-like tattoos that ran all the way down her arms…this woman was a beauty, and with quite a few curves to go along with it to boot.

"Well,_ well_…" The course man mused as he gave the woman another quick look-over, "What can I do for ya…?" The woman slowly arched one eyebrow at him and promptly folded her arms over her chest and walked towards the counter.

"I'm looking for someone…"

"Jeez!" Cid groaned as he rolled his eyes, "Is there some kind of special goin' on today?! 'Hey I've lost my friends can you help me!' specials 're somethin'?!" The woman blinked slowly as she gazed up at him. Realizing that he was ranting in front of a pretty face, Cid stopped and coughed, fishing out another cigarette and putting it between his lips, "Some kid just left. He was lookin' for his friends. World up 'n got swallowed by the Heartless. Poor kid…"

"The world vanished?" The woman asked with a hint of coldness in her voice, and received a nod in response, "…I see, so it is as he feared."

"Eh?" Cid tried to be serious about the situation, but his eyes continued to drift down towards the girl's ample cleavage, despite his best efforts to avoid the gesture. It was obvious she knew he continued to gaze there as she unfolded her arms and pointed to her face.

"I'm up here, sir," Her voice was dark and cynical as Cid drew his attention up to her face, "Thank you. If you had continued to stare, I _might _have had to _do_ something about it…" Oh boy, there were implications that just dripped from that sentence! And it didn't help that the girl said it in a horribly sarcastic, melo-dramatic voice. Cid's mind wandered to what she might have 'done' about it - which mostly consisted of naughty or perverse things - though in truth, she leaned more towards the removal of his eyes.  The blank stare on his face all but told her what went on in the elder man's mind and she ahemed loudly, "Sir, leave me out of your perverted thoughts. I just want some _help_, okay?"

"Er, sure, whatever ya say…" His eyes began to move down south of the border again. Sheesh, he couldn't help himself! With her contents proudly on display, who _wouldn't_ want to take a peek at the goods?! The woman slammed her hand down on the counter and brought his attention back up to her face as she leaned over, which of course, only gave Cid a better view of her rack.

"As I was saying…" Her voice seemed more angered now as she spoke, "I am looking for someone by the name of Leon. Do you know where I could find him?"

"Ol' Leon?" Cid leaned back on his heels as he folded his arms back behind his head, "Whaddya want with him? Go 'onna date, maybe?" He teased. This did not get the kind of response as he hoped as the girl leaned forward with a dark glare upon her pretty face.

"For your information, _good sir,_" Her tone was dark as she spoke, "I am looking for him because it seems as he knows about the whole mess with the worlds vanishing. Now, either tell me what you know or I'll be on my way, thank you." This girl had spunk! She seemed cold and anti-social at first, but damn, she was fiery! Cid liked that in a girl and couldn't help but to grin down at her even through the glare she still held at him.

"Damned to hell if I know where 'e is!" He announced as he crossed his arms, "Leon's a reckless guy who goes wherever he pleases. No one knows where 'e is, so you're better off just lookin' for yerself!" The woman let out a sigh as she leaned back away from the counter.

"Thanks," She muttered dryly as she turned on her heel and walked towards the exit of the shop. However, she stopped in her tracks as the small rabbit-cat animal on her shoulder started to meya frantically at her. For a moment, she listened to the creature and gave small nods of her head, and then turned around to look at Cid. Cid arched an eyebrow as she walked back to the counter, "There's someone else."

"Oh?"

"A young boy, probably about…" The girl paused as she listened to her little pet again, "Fourteen or so, with messy, spiky brown hair and bright blue eyes." Cid stroked his chin as he flipped through his mind again, since the lovely display of the woman's bosom had pretty much erased his encounter with Sora from his memory. It took him a few seconds to realize that the kid had just left and nodded towards her.

"Ya, I saw 'em," He gestured towards the door, "He just left before ya waltzed right in here, Miss." The woman gave a quick nod of her head and turned abruptly towards the door and dashed toward it, and gave a half-hearted wave to Cid.

"Thank you!" She shouted as she opened it and ran outside in hopes to catch up with the boy before he got too far away.

"Jeez, this is gunna be a fun day, I c'n tell…" Cid sighed with a scratch of his head.

"You're leaving?" A dignified female voice asked, which echoed off of the marbled halls of what appeared to be a grand palace. Before the origin of the voice stood a woman with long cyan hair that swept down to her butt, and almost stuck out from the back of her neck slightly. Most noticeable besides her hair were her strange, elongated square-shape ears that seemed to twitch and change direction as if they belonged to a dog. The woman wore elegant, yet revealing, clothing in blacks and reds. Slowly, the woman looked to the origin of the voice.

"I'm not of any use here," She responded in a deep and rich voice, her golden cat-like eyes looked upon the one speaking to her, "I mean, I don't know a damned thing about ruling an empire, Empress or not! Without him here, I'm about as useful as a wet piece of paper at this point. B-besides…"

"Besides?"

"I can't stay here," The cyan-haired woman sighed as she looked away, her long bangs fell into her eyes as she did so, "Not only am I useless, but…it just doesn't feel _right _without him by my side. It seems like I'm running way, but I'm _not._ Not in the slightest." A soft chuckle came from the woman she spoke to.

"Ah, Ryoko-_dono_, you're still a child at heart!" The golden-eyed woman snapped her head up towards the other and glared darkly.

"I-I am no--" She stopped in mid sentence as she received a dark glare in a response, "I-I mean…I guess, Seto-sama."

"Such a good child, though," The other woman, Seto, chuckled, "But will returning there actually help you?" Ryoko once again looked off to the side, then her attention diverted up towards the elegantly carved ceiling above her head. She smiled softly.

"As much as I've made myself comfortable here," Her voice was found as she spoke, "That place is still my _home_, and it always _will_ be. The others are there, too, so I'll feel better, even without him…"

"You're deeply concerned about him, aren't you?"

"O-Of course I am!!" Ryoko snapped back as she glared slightly at Seto, "Why wouldn't I be?! He…He is my _husband _after all! And with all of the problems, the disappearance of the worlds…you would think he would have at least brought me along, don't you think?!" Ryoko's intense golden eyes slowly turned to gaze upon Seto, looking her square in those calm, deep red eyes - the gesture was still something she was not completely used to.

Seto held herself proud, and could easily be distinguished as royalty by not only the commanding presence she gave out, but by her garb as well. Sea foam green, wavy bangs swept aside from her face to come above and below her eyes, accenting their sharp edges. Long hair was pulled into a high pony-tail that tapered down to the ground, tied off with a sort of a 'bun cover' at the end. Seto slowly smiled at Ryoko.

"You don't need to hide anything from me, Ryoko-_dono__,_" She said in a calm voice, "I know why he left you behind…and you do as well. Not only does he not want to endanger you, but…what you _carry _as well." To this, Ryoko turned a deep shade of red and slowly looked down, and gently placed a hand on her abdomen. She chuckled nervously and shook her flusterment away with a few shakes of her head.

"I guess I can't hide anything from you, can I?" A shake of the head came as a response, "Heh, I figured as much…I shouldn't have hid it from you in the first place, eh?" A chuckle came from Seto as Ryoko looked her in the eye again, "B-besides, I should have faith in Ashi, and in Shidou. They're the best of the best, and I know that they can find him again."

Seto raised a hand to her mouth to stifle a laugh, "Ah, Ryoko-_dono_, you've grown a little."

"L-look, Seto, I--"

"Don't worry, I can handle things here while you and Tenchi-_dono_are away," Seto cut the younger woman off with a smile, "That is what you came to ask, correct?"

"Y-yeah."

Seto gave a wave of her hand in a dismissive gesture, "Now, Ryoko-_dono_, go on ahead. Everything will be taken care of. Don't worry - your Tenchi will be back soon." Ryoko closed her eyes and sighed softly, and slowly turned away and began to walk down the hallway away from Seto. She could still feel those eyes against her back, which watched her every step as she went towards the hanger.

"I can only hope so…" Her voice echoed to herself and sent out a silent prayer that, whoever was out there that watched them, that they would set things right again and send her love back to her…and to the Empire as well.

So excited that his friends were probably _somewhere _in this strange new place, Sora didn't really notice where he was going. The place was huge - especially in terms of his island! - and there were a lot of nooks and crannies all around the place! It seemed like the kind of place both of his closest friends would like, so naturally, they'd be there…right? Just like the secret spot back home! He kept an optimistic look on the situation; this city was so big, they were bound to be floating around in the area. At least, that's what he hoped.

He found that his yellow shoes lead him into another section of the large city, away from the bright lights of the shopping district that he had been in before. Sora looked up to the large, heavy-set doors before him with a confident smile on his face. He'd find them, for sure! And as an added bonus, he got to explore someplace new! Another world…he couldn't wait to tell Kairi and Riku about this place! That other worlds _did_ exist! With a bright grin on his face, Sora could feel his fingers tingle with anticipation as he placed his hands on one door and shoved it open, and found that they weren't as heavy as they appeared to be. With a loud creak, the door opened and revealed the path into a more residential sector of the city, with a few shops here and there for convenience.

With his first step into the new part of the town, Sora walked upon a large balcony that overlooked a rather fancy fountain towards a central square in the middle of this sector. A strange looking shop rested across from him, and to his left he noticed an inn - good to know for if he couldn't find his friends before it became too late.

"Ack…" Sora drooped when he remembered he didn't have any sort of money and sighed deeply, "I'll just be kicked out on the street again!" A depressed sigh came from him, "I'd be better off with that weird geezer in the accessory shop…"

A loud bang came from behind the young boy as he jumped with a loud squawk from his throat, and Sora whirled around to notice that the door had slammed shut behind him, his heart throbbing in his chest. Was that supposed to happen? Somehow, deep inside of him, the excitement had vanished and was replaced with uneasiness. Sora laughed nervously as he looked around this oddly-quiet section of town, and then suddenly notice there were _no people _here. There were a lot walking around in the area he was in before…but this area was completely silent. No movement, no activity…not even within the stores or the homes. This realization left him with a rather unnerving feeling in his gut. Another nervous laugh, as if to shake the nervousness away, came from him as he looked around.

"Eh-heh…" Cautiously, he took a step forward, his blue eyes wary of his surroundings, "I-it's probably nothing, right? They all are just in bed, I'm sure! Yeah, that's it…" It was almost as if he attempted to fool himself that nothing could _possibly _be wrong. But still…it was far too quiet for his tastes. With that in mind, he decided to head towards the Inn and see if they wouldn't mind housing a broke person, or at least, know what's going on. Besides…wasn't the other section of town still busy with people? Why would only _this sector _be completely dead?

As Sora turned to head towards the luminescent building, he suddenly heard a loud scream come from behind him. He whirled around and noticed a middle-aged man rush towards him, complete with panic in his eyes. Sora's own widened in fear as he noticed something that chased the man…something that looked too familiar.

A shadow like creature, only about waist-high on Sora, adorned with silver armor, suddenly jumped on the man and plunged it's claws deep into his flesh and ripped out an item that glittered in the evening light - something that was heart shaped. The man's form melted away and was quickly replaced with darkness, as his form twisted and changed into that of a shadowy, bug-like creature that Sora knew all too well.

The things from the Island.

The things that destroyed it.

Completely frozen, Sora watched in horror as more of the creatures began to appear around him. Oh god…what was going on?! What were those things?! Why were they here, as well as on the Island?! What if…what if Kairi and Riku were attacked by them?! What about the man who-- So overwhelmed with thoughts, Sora didn't even notice them as they drew closer to him. And as they did, he felt a sensation tingle through his right hand as a stream of light appeared in it, materializing into a strange weapon that appeared to be a giant key, yet was held and wielded like a sword. His blue eyes looked down to the weapon and slowly blinked.

"H-huh…This thing again?!" He lifted it up and examined it. It had appeared in his hands in the Island, and a kind voice chanted that it was something called a 'Keyblade.' In Sora's awe of where the item came from, he failed to notice that the shadow creatures encroached closer towards him, and it wasn't until one leapt for him that he was brought back out of his trance to the situation at hand. "Wagh!" He wailed as he raised the weapon up to block it. Just what _were _these things?! And how the hell could he fight them?! Sora took a step back away from them and looked about the group of the buggy-monsters with a worried expression. Sure, he had play-fought with the other kids on the Island, but this…this was for real! He could actually _die_ from this! Totally different from before…there was little hope or courage in him now, but Sora had to find a way, just like he did on the Island! Yeah…just try to find that same feeling again…

"What are you standing around for?!" A harsh female voice cried from behind Sora, which caused his head to snap around to look for the origin, "You've got a weapon; fight them!" His eyes widened as he saw the strange, pale-skinned girl that entered Cid's accessory shop previously, rush towards the shadow creatures with an elegant looking pole-arm in her hands, with a twisted black blade etched with runes that pulsated with violet energy. The woman leapt into the air and brought the blade down upon one of the monsters, which dissipated it into shadowy swirls. The woman whipped around and swung her weapon with her and slashed into three more, which effectively sent them back to the abyss where they came from.

"Whoa…?!" Sora gasped as he watched the woman kick some serious shadow-bug creature behind. He hardly had to do anything as she went at it, jabbing the butt of her weapon into the ground and hurling herself towards one of them, kicking it to the ground and destroying it within a wisp of smoke. She immediately twisted the weapon within her hands and swung it out around her in a circle, destroying the few remaining creatures in one smooth attack. He stood in awe as she leaned the massive weapon against her shoulders and turned around to face him.

"…A key…" She muttered as she looked at his weapon, "So, you must be the kid Ryo-chan found." Sora only blinked his eyes a few times as the strange bunny-like creature hopped onto the girl's shoulder and mewed happily.

"K-key?" He questioned, gazing at the oversized key he held in his hand, which quickly disappeared within a flash of light. Glancing at his now-empty hand, Sora blinked several more times, before looking up at the girl, "What the heck is going _on _here?!" Slowly, the girl blinked her eyes and glanced up at the fluffy creature on her shoulder, then back down towards the boy.

"You mean, you _don't _know?" In response, Sora frantically shook his head. The girl sighed somewhat angrily as she rubbed her temples. "Great. I thought the Key the Emperor spoke of would know more about the situation…" This only caused a more confused look to cross Sora's face, which the girl noted and smiled faintly. "Okay, okay. Let's start from the basics. My name is Ashi Hotaru and I was sent on a mission by the Emperor of Jurai to find you."

Jurai? Emperor? Key? Sora's face twisted into further confusion as he tried to make sense of all of this. Everything was completely new to him, though maybe the key thing had to do with the weird weapon he got back on is Island home. More importantly, why was this girl, Ashi Hotaru, looking for him? He was just a normal boy, far away from home, looking for his friends! What was so special about him? Clearly, Ashi noticed his confusion and knelt down so she was more on-level with his line of sight.

"Hey, I can understand why it's confusing to you," She said, her tone somewhat softer then the one she had been previously using, "Even I don't really know what's going on. I was given very vague instructions to follow, so I really don't know much more then you do."

"Y-yeah, this isn't making any sense…" Sora groaned, "I'm just a kid! Why am I so important that an Emperor has to find me?"

"I don't know," Ashi responded, "But, it has something to do with that weapon you carry, I'm sure of it. And it has to do with the destruction of the Worlds…"

"_What?!_" Sora exclaimed as she said those words. Something struck home; something he remembered before her blacked out and found himself here. A massive monster made of shadows appeared and began to destroy the Island, bit by bit. Finally, it was all sucked up in a massive vortex of darkness, him along with it. If the worlds were getting destroyed, that meant…! "My world is gone!! Oh god, what about Kairi, and Riku…?! My family?! _Everyone_…?!" At this point, he was frantic as he looked towards this strange, pale girl for answers.

"If you ended up here, not of ship…" Her voice was quiet as she spoke, barely above a whisper, "…Then your world is gone."

"…No…" Sora whispered breathlessly, his usually bright eyes widening in both shock and of terror. What he had experienced before waking up here…it was no dream, no nightmare he could shake off and forget about! It was real, and it had consumed his world entirely. There was no way he could get back home if it was gone…his friends, his family—and Riku and Kairi, too?! He couldn't believe it! In just a day, his beloved Island is gone, everyone and everything he's ever cared about disappeared with it! Oh god, this couldn't be real, this couldn't be happening! Sora began to take a few steps backward from Ashi and tumbled down to the ground. "No…_no_!! That can't be!" His voice was strained and frantic as he shouted, "Everything's _gone_?! My friends? Riku and Kairi?! They're gone, too?! Why wasn't I destroyed? It's not true…it's a lie! A dream--"

Ashi caught Sora's words in his throat as she leaned down and embraced him. It wasn't so much a tender embrace, more like one that would help calm his nerves; almost motherly. Still, the boy couldn't help but to flush as she did so, his heart racing in his throat.

"Calm down," She said softly, "I know it must be a lot for someone as young as you to take in, but it is happening everywhere. Worlds are getting consumed by darkness. It is very real, and the only way to survive is to _accept _it. I was sent to find you because you are somehow the key in stopping all of this, to save all of the worlds. I don't know why or how, but you must find the courage to help, to prevent this from happening anywhere else. Besides…" She pulled away and smiled faintly down at Sora, "If you managed to get out, I'm sure your friends survived too."

It wasn't a whole lot coming from a stranger, but it did make him feel better. His world wasn't the only one suffering from whatever was going on, and the whole subject that his friends were alive made his face brighten. Somehow, Sora knew that they were okay; it was just a matter of finding them again.

"T-thanks…" He commented, managing to force a smile. The rabbit thing meyaed and bounced onto his shoulder, gently nuzzling her cheek against his. At this, Sora couldn't help but to smile and stroke her head. Sometimes cute things really could make someone's day brighter.

"What's your name?" Ashi asked with a tilt of her head.

"Oh…I'm Sora."

"It's nice to meet you, Sora," Ashi rose up and offered her hand to the bumbling boy, who took it and she helped him to his feet, "Right now, I do not think it's entirely safe in this section of town, plus we should find my accomplice before searching for a man named Leon."

"Leon?" Sora asked as the two began to walk towards the exit.

"I don't really know myself, but the Emperor believes he can help within this situation," Ashi explained, "Apparently this guy is an enigma who doesn't like being found. How _joyous_ that we have to find him to learn whatever the hell is going on with the worlds disappearing, your key, and those strange monsters that lurk about town." She paused within her movement to glance over her shoulder towards Sora. "And, perhaps, maybe we can find out what _really _happened to your world. I could be wrong about it being destroyed…"

That brightness that had existed upon his face before appeared again as Sora grinned up at the much taller woman. "Yeah!" He exclaimed happily and followed after her. Right now, he was lost in a strange town and she was the only one who knew what was going on…well, kind of. Somehow, being around Ashi made Sora feel more secure in a strange place; though, it still didn't push his concerns about Kairi and Riku out of his mind. Inside of his heart, he could feel that they were somewhere…but they also felt very far away as well. It was a strange feeling, but he was sure that he could find them again!

However, as they walked along the allies, Ashi stopped in her tracks and lifted her weapon from her shoulder. Sora practically crashed into her as she fell into a defensive stance before him.

"…Ashi?"

"They're coming." Came her response, her tone cold and cynical. In no doubt, she was referring to the strange shadow monsters that plagued the city. Slowly, Sora nodded his head and held his hand out, hoping that the strange key that he had wielded before would appear. Sure enough, the item materialized within his outstretched hand, and no sooner did it appear that the creatures began to form out of thin air, quickly surrounding him and his new-found ally.

Ashi was no stranger to battle, he could tell. As soon as the first of them started to appear out of the ground, she dashed into the fray and began to hack and slash at the monsters with her weapon. Swinging it around, she secured it within the curves of her elbows, twisting around and swirling in a cyclone, the weapon sticking all those who dared to come too close to her, and releasing the butt from her hold, she swung the weapon around twice and took out even more of them, the weapon quickly returning to her hands. Lifting one hand out, she released a wave of dark purple colored flame, engulfing another cluster of the creatures and reducing them to nothing more then wisps of smoke.

Sora only had a moment to behold how skilled Ashi was in battle, before he had to start worrying about his _own _skin. Thankfully, all of the play-fights he had had on the island was more then enough to help him in actually combat…well, at least he thought so. With the massive key weapon – he briefly recalled a strange, soft voice referring to it as a "Keyblade" – he thrust it out like a normal sword would be wielded, and pierced through one of the offending monsters and turned it into nothing more then dark remains. Amazingly, this weapon was stronger then it looked! It wielded just like a sword, only it was…well, shaped like a key. Sora found that it was easy to use and he picked up quick on movements and techniques, slashing and hacking away at the monsters.

Finding himself back to back to Ashi, he glanced up at her and grinned. "Not bad for my first time, eh?"

"You're a natural," Ashi commented with a chuckle, "That will be useful if all of the other worlds are so over-run with these things." Pausing, she glanced down at Sora, "Stay close. I'm going to finish off the rest of them." Sora nodded his head, holding his ground next to her. Holding her weapon out in front of her, Ashi thrust the weapon down into the ground and released bolts of black lightning into the concrete below her feet. Totally unaware of what she was going to do, Sora blinked a few times. It didn't look like anything happened…then, he began to notice the ground begin to rumble and crackle with the same energy that Ashi had thrust into it. Suddenly, she leapt into the air and twisted her weapon around, driving the butt into the ground.

The ground began to explode all around them, waves of dark energy erupting and bursting forth with a tremendous force and energy that it could only be considered highly destructive. Sora's eyes widened as the shockwave neared him, wincing and preparing for it to hit him. However, no such energy did. He opened his blue eyes and saw the destruction continue around him, though he was defended by some kind of a semi-translucent, purple barrier. It took a few seconds before the energy calmed back down, the ground effectively busted up, but all of the creatures were gone.

"…Woah…" He whispered breathlessly, his Keyblade dissipating into points of light. "D-did you do that, Miss Ashi?"

"Indeed," Slowly, Ashi lowered her weapon from its offensive stance and, once again, returned it to rest upon her shoulder. "It's one of the various forms of magik that I can perform."

"…Magik??" Sora blinked his eyes as he turned to face the much taller, refined woman beside him. "What's that?" Ashi, meanwhile, looked down at Sora with a slightly shocked expression…which, was actually a nice change from her usually stoic disposition.

"…You don't know about it?" To this, Sora rapidly shook his head. Ashi let out an exasperated sigh and shook her head. "Magik…is the energy that flows throughout all living things, in a form known as Mana. It's also been known as 'chi' or similar names, depending on which world or culture you are from. Everyone has the ability to tap into these things, though it takes a lot of practice and learning to understand the call of Mana, to respond to it, and to create Magik."

"So…it's in everyone?" Sora inquired, receiving a nod of the head from Ashi. "Cool…! Does it mean that I can learn it, too?"

"Of course, but it will take time and practice for you to get to the level I am." Despite the pessimistic voice, it couldn't contain the excitement that was beginning to build within Sora. If he could learn how to use Magik…maybe he could use it to find his friends! And to fight off the army of whatever-the-hell those shadow bugs where! Those blue eyes of his lit up and a smile formed across his face, practically ready to jump out of his oversized shoes in excitement! Such excitement was hard to ignore, and Ashi couldn't help but to chuckle. "Do you want to learn?"

"Yeah!" Sora exclaimed. Ashi took a quick look around her; she didn't feel any abnormal activity, and she certainly didn't feel that inky darkness forming in the back of her mind that warned her of the presence of the strange creatures. They were okay…for now. Kneeling down in front of Sora, she reached a hand out and gently hovered it over his face.

"Close your eyes and focus." Her voice was smooth and calm as she spoke. "Look deep within yourself. There is a sleeping power that lingers deep within your subconscious. It's not so much finding it; it's more like _feeling _it. Even the most skilled of mages take quite a bit of time before they feel that inner power, that voice. Don't be afraid if you don't find it right away. These things take time…"

            Although Sora had tried to listen to every word that Ashi's soft voice portrayed, tried to focus very hard on his inner sight, her words eventually drowned out and nothing but silence played within his ears. Slowly, his eyes – which had been closed before – opened up to view nothing but blackness surrounding every sense he held. A still silence with no movement, no odor, no feeling. It was like his entire body was numb, and yet, he could feel it at the same time. His eyes darted around the dark nothingness that surrounded him, trying to figure out where he was.

            Was this another dream?

He had been having a lot of them recently. Well, they were less dreams and more like strange visions that ended in horrifying nightmares. Not two days before his Island was destroyed by the shadow monsters, Sora had a dream containing them. That dream, too, was covered in darkness, the only thing he could see was himself…and beautiful stained-glass floors.

But this was different.

Before, a kind voice guided him down the path he needed to take. Telling him to have faith in himself, and not to be afraid. Not to mention a lot of talk about "doors" and "worlds" and things like that. Now, in this darkness, Sora heard no comforting voice. He saw nothing, he heard nothing, he felt nothing. The darkness was beginning to get the better of him as his eyes frantically darted around the emptiness.

Was this inside of his head? His subconscious?

Ashi had made mention that Sora needed to look inside of himself to find the source of his magik. Maybe he dove too far and found himself lost, scared, and alone. His terror was beginning to creep into every pour of his body. His feet felt heavy, his body trembling and his heart racing within his chest. Forcing his body to move, Sora raised his hands to his mouth.

"Hello?!" He shouted as loud as he could. There was no response to his cry, only the echoing of his voice ringing in his ears. Despite how his feet felt like lead weights, Sora willed them to move forward as he started to run, trying to find any_thing _that would rid him of this eerie darkness.

Sora ran for what felt like miles upon miles, his voice crying out as he moved. "Hello?! Is anyone there?!" Over and over again. There was no answer, no response; no end to this eternal darkness. Realizing that there wasn't anyone, or anything here, Sora gave up his search and collapsed to the ground, panting heavily as he continued to stare into the vast emptiness of it all.

"Riku…Kairi…? Ashi?!" Sora cried out again, lifting his head up, "Is anyone there…?!"

Sora continued to look frantically around him. There was nothing but the still darkness that echoed around him, the sound of his voice eventually dying off and disappearing into the silence.

Just as panic and terror began to take over his mind, a deep, threatening, evil laugh rang through the air. Sora sprung to his feet and looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. Nothing could be seen…just like it always was in this place.

"Who's there?!"

"No one of consequence," The voice said, "It appears as if you have opened the door to your world…" Sora narrowed his eyes as he listened to the voice speak. "…And yet, you still know _nothing_." That voice! He knew it from the Island!! It was the cloaked figure that randomly appeared within the 'secret place' just a day before it was destroyed! What was he doing here, in this dream?!

"Who are you?!" Sora demanded. "What do you want from me?"

"Truly you are ignorant, boy…" With that, the voice fell silent and Sora was left alone in the darkness…but not for very long. A strange symbol flashed in front of him, painted blood red. It looked like a heart, with an inversed Fleur de Les below it…and a giant X through the middle of the heart. Just as he was wondering what the hell it was, the Keyblade materialized within his fingers and massive herds upon herds of those shadow creatures began to appear around him.

Sora's eyes widened as more of them kept on appearing. It was almost like a moving wall of their bug-like heads, complete with their glowing, yellow, beady eyes. It wasn't like the amount they had been fighting in town, just now…it was an entire army of them! There was no way he could defeat them all, on his own!

"No way…!" Sora gasped as the herds upon herds of the monsters began to come at him. Frantically, he flailed the Keyblade around and tried to knock down as many of them as he possibly could, though it was difficult with so many of them coming from all angles. Their claws dug into his flesh, tore at his clothing, sent him flying and skidding across the dark ground, only to leap upon him again in a ravenous attack.

"Someone…help!!"

As if to answer his plea, a bright light emitted from his chest, engulfing the monsters and destroying them. Sora slowly opened his eyes and sat up, wondering what had happened.

"_Don't be afraid, Sora_." Came a familiar voice.

"…Kairi?!" Sora exclaimed as he hopped up to his feet, looking around to try and see his long-lost friend, only to find nothing but more of those creatures, withering away from him. "Where are you?!"

"_I'm a lot closer then you think I am_." Kairi's voice responded with a giggle, "_Don't worry, Sora! I know you can do it. I'm right here beside you. Just have faith!_"

Even though Sora could not see Kairi, he could feel her there. Where "there" was he wasn't quite sure, but hearing her voice again gave him confidence. A grin formed across his face as he twirled his Keyblade within his hands. He could do this! With a yell, he charged into the hoard of the shadow monsters and began to clear a path straight through them. His confidence grew with every attack, with every whirl of his weapon, with every strike he landed upon the creatures. Somehow, hearing Kairi's voice encourage him was more then enough to give Sora the faith within himself to take on an entire army of these things!

As he drew closer and closer towards the weird symbol, Sora felt something begin to burn inside of him. It was hot, but it wasn't painful. An image began to focus itself within his mind. Somehow, he was able to make it into a form, and form it from a thought into reality. Holding his free hand out, Sora gave it a wave as a cyclone of fire swirled out from his outstretched palm, consuming the monsters and returning them to the darkness from where they came. Sora had little time to dwell upon what he had just done, as the monsters kept on coming at him from all directions.

The symbol grew closer and closer as Sora weeded out the creatures, one by one. As he did, a familiar voice softly spoke into his mind, but it was not the voice of Kairi. It was someone else, gentle and warm, and the voice made him feel safe, somehow.

"_Keep your Light burning strong,_" The voice whispered softly, "_And you will be able to vanquish the Darkness._"

It was the same voice he kept on hearing in his dreams. It kept telling him to keep going on, to keep strong, and to not fear of the unknown or the darkness. He had no idea who the voice belonged to, but it brought comfort and shelter to him. Even when all of these monsters where attacking him, Sora felt secure and didn't have any fear. Both this mysterious voice, and Kairi's, encouraged him to keep fighting despite the darkness growing stronger every moment.

Reaching the strange symbol that floated in the air, Sora twisted his Keyblade around and pointed it towards the symbol. He wasn't quite sure what it was, exactly, that he was doing…it was just some kind of an _instinct _of sort. Light began to gather around the weapon and shot out of the tip, striking the symbol. Cracks of light began to form their way across the symbol, the light pouring through the darkness as it spider webbed its way across it.  Suddenly, the symbol exploded like glass, revealing a secondary symbol below it…one that consisted of ten, strange looking blades of energy. Light emitted from the blades of energy, consuming the darkness and destroying the army of the creatures.

Sora shielded his eyes from the light, but found it not so much blinding as it was enveloping him within its warmth. Somehow, he felt _connected _to it, connected to the symbol that had appeared under the red-colored one.

Once again, the unknown voice spoke into his mind.

"_As long as you remember your Light…the Darkness cannot hurt you._"

That white light began to bleed away into normal lighting, Sora's gaze drawn up towards what appeared to be a ceiling. Groaning loudly, he reached up to his head and rubbed it, slowly sitting up within the bed he had been resting upon.

"Sora?"

It took Sora a few moments to realize that someone had called out his name, and it was an unfamiliar voice…and to realize where he was, exactly. Glancing off towards the origin of the voice, he saw Ashi standing across the room, though she was moving swiftly towards the bed he had been resting upon. Blinking his eyes, Sora's memories decided to return to him. Oh right. His Island was gone, and now he was with Ashi.

"Hey." He managed to crack a smile, despite his drowsy daze.

"Are you alright?" Ashi inquired as she took a set on the bed, next to him. "You suddenly collapsed in the middle of town. There wasn't anything wrong with you, but…it left me a little concerned."

"Uh…" Sora blinked his eyes a few more times, feeling somehow embarrassed with the situation all of the sudden. Ashi was concerned about him? But they just met! Why would she be concerned for a complete stranger? Rubbing his eyes, trying to hid his embarrassment, he nodded his head quickly. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. I just had a weird dream, that's all…" Pausing, he tilted his head, "So…I just fell over or something?"

"Yeah," Ashi responded, "You completely passed out all of the sudden. I don't really blame you, though. A lot has happened to you in such a short time-frame. You probably were exhausted, more emotionally then physically, from everything. At least, that's what I suspect." Ashi took a moment to pause. Sora sighed and turned his head towards the floor, looking down at it past his yellow shoes. She _did _have a point; he had been through a lot today. His home destroyed, his friends missing…and the same thing was happening in other places, too! But, just as he was about to agree with Ashi on that matter, she changed the subject. "Do you remember what happened in your dream?"

"…Huh?" Sora inquired, somewhat taken aback by the sudden change of subject.

"Your dream you just had," Ashi continued, "Dreams are very important. A lot of people don't realize this…but those with powerful destinies often dream of things that have some kind of meaning, or a purpose. If you are as special as the Emperor believes you are…it could help us in the long run."

"Well…" Sora began as he tapped his chin, "It was really dark, and I was all alone. And then, this voice started talking to me...I've heard it before--" However, Sora stopped talking all of the sudden as Ashi's hand raised up, silencing him. "…Ashi?"

"Damn…" She muttered as she pushed herself off of the bed, "I thought we would be safe in here, with Ryo-Ohki creating an energy barrier! It looks like they can bypass it somehow..."

"Meya!" The cabbit cried as she hopped up into Ashi's hair.

"No, it's alright, Ryo-chan. It's not your fault…" Ashi held her left hand out, and, seemingly out of no-where, fragments of dark energy began to gather together and form her rather impressive weapon within her outstretched hands. Apparently, it worked a bit like Sora's Keyblade, disappearing with a thought and appearing again when she needed it. Looking over towards the smaller boy, she gestured towards the door. "Get out of here! It's too cramped to fight, we need to bring it out to the open!"

Sora gave a nod of his head and charged out the door, his Keyblade appearing in his hand. Not a second later, he heard Ashi scream and the sound of those monsters disappearing into black mist followed. She chased after him as they quickly exited the hotel, leading them back into the district they had just been in. Sure enough, even more of the buggers were popping up left and right! Did it ever end?!

Ashi quickly exited onto the street as well, her glaive flinging about her in a rapid flurry, hacking and slashing away at the little buggers like no tomorrow. Sora quickly followed suit, burring his Keyblade into the head of one of the creatures. Whatever it was that was causing them to form was strong, and it didn't show any signs of stopping anytime soon. However, Sora was still groggy from whatever-the-hell had happened to him, and his fatigue was quickly beginning to show its head.

He began to pant as his swings became less and less accurate, often swinging right through open air and missing the monsters completely, or just grazing against their shadowy skin. Sora's focus began to shift a bit too, making everything appear in some kind of a blur. Even his arms began to feel like jelly, barely able to keep swinging the Keyblade around.

"Ugh…" Sora raised one of his hands to his face, rubbing his eyes. However, in this moment to try and wake himself, a creature lunged at him and nearly knocked him to the side, though he was able to just barely dodge it. "Woah…!" Ashi quickly snapped around and drove the blade of her weapon through the offending monster, disbursing it into darkness.

"Sora, you have to wake up!" Ashi shouted over at him, her blade twirling within her hands and slashing at more of the offending monsters.

Shaking his head rapidly, Sora closed his eyes and rubbed them to try and get them to stay focused, and in his mind he saw that strange symbol from his dream; the one surrounded by light. Once again, he felt that strange warmth burning within his chest, that thought and meaning that he had experienced before. Opening his eyes again, he once again focused his thought into physical being, releasing another cyclone of flame from his outstretched hand. The fire engulfed the monsters directly in front of them, the smoke of the flame mixing with the dark energy that they released when they died.

With a few more slashes from Ashi's weapon, the remainder of the shadow creatures had been reduced to nothing more then wisps of smoke. She quickly turned her head towards Sora and smirked slightly, resting the shaft of her glaive against her shoulder.

"Sora…you just used magik." She commented. Sora blinked his eyes and looked at his hand, glancing up at her again with a shocked expression. "I didn't even need to teach you…it was just inside of you…"

"I-I guess…" Sora blinked again and lowered his hand down, "I used it in that dream, too.  I don't know how it happened…just, I felt a warmth inside of me and I was able to make it real."

"Perhaps…" Ashi sounded thoughtful for a moment, as if she was going to say something profound; however, no other sounds came from her. Ryo-Ohki gave a worried meya.

"Perhaps?"

Ashi chuckled and started moving again, "We should head back to the First District. I, personally, I don't really want to kick the shit out of these creatures anymore while we wait for my companion to show up…" With that, she began to walk towards the exit towards the First District of Traverse Town, twisting her glaive in her hands so it was in a ready position. Sora gave a nod of his head and hurried after the much taller woman. There had been a few mentions of this mysterious "companion" of Ashi's, and he was beginning to wonder who this person was, per-say.

"Say, Ashi…"

"Yeah?" She glanced slightly over her shoulder and down towards Sora as she said this.

"You keep mentioning something about a companion…who is it, anyway?" The question was genuine and whole; Sora was very curious about who this enigmatic person happened to be. Ashi chuckled and continued walking, her gaze turned ahead once more.

"I'm actually the Captain of the Guard on Jurai," She stated, "I am in charge of organizing the troops, leading them in combat, training them, and protecting the Royalty of the Jurain Line."

"Wow!" Sora exclaimed with great enthusiasm, "Really? You're in charge of _all _of that? On your own?!" To this, Ashi chuckled and gave a nod of her head. "Wow, no wonder why you're an amazing fighter!!"

"Heh. I've had a lot of training," Ashi grinned, the first time Sora had really seen her smile since they met, "But, as you were saying, my companion is the one ranked directly under me in the Guard. My second-in-command. Though you wouldn't guess it by talking to her…"

"Why do you say that?" Sora questioned, glancing up at Ashi with a curious gaze.

"You'll find out when we--" However, Ashi once again stopped in mid-sentence, which caused Sora to fall into an offensive stance, looking around. She had some kind of extra sensory going on that allowed her to sense the darkness that called the shadow creatures out of hiding.

"More of those monsters?!" Sora shouted, though the look on Ashi's face told him that it wasn't the case. She wasn't leaping into action or held that same cold expression she held whenever they began to sprout up. It was tense, but it wasn't as dark as it usually was.

"…No…" The word Ashi spoke only confirmed what Sora had expected, "…It's…something else…" Slowly, her head turned around to look behind her and, nervously, Sora did as well.

Standing behind them was a man. "You, with the Keyblade…" His voice was both cold and emotionless as he spoke. Sora slowly turned all the way around, his hands firmly grasped around the handle of his weapon.

"Yeah?" His voice was tense as he spoke, eyeing this strange man carefully.

"…It would be best…if you handed it over to me."


	2. The Start of a Legend

**The Start of a Legend**

It would be bestif you handed it over to me.

A hand, clad in a black leather glove, outstretched itself towards the startled gaze of Sora. Cold, piercing blue eyes gazed out from beyond shaggy brown bangs at the shorter boy, a scar adorned the bridge of this mans nose. He dressed in lots of black leather, and in his other hand, he wielded a sword with the hilt of an old-fashioned revolver. There was something not right about this young man; while it wasnt inherently evil, it was dark and menacing all the same.

Sora narrowed his eyes at this man, holding his Keyblade tightly.

Why should I? He demanded in a harsh tone, not liking the way this man was looking at him. Why was he so defensive over a weapon he had no idea what the purpose was of it?

Its for the best. The man responded in a simple, yet curt tone. Now, hand it over. It was clear that he wasnt going to give up that easily.

No way! Sora shouted, gritting his teeth together. He, too, wasnt going to give up, regardless of how insistent this jerk was! And it looked like he was going to resort to brute force and _pry _it away from Sora, as he twisted his Gunblade in his hands and lifted it up to attack. Well, bring it on! Ashi was about to jump in at that point, going to lift her weapon to fend off the offending blade aimed at Sora, but her attack was halted when a pair of red daggers hit against the shaft of her weapon, knocking it back and causing Ashi to teeter backwards.

Striking an offensive pose to the side of the dark-clad young man stood a girl, older then Sora, with her blonde hair pulled up into a high pony-tail. Her green eyes shown with mischievous intentions, though oddly enough, they had swirls in them. She grinned brightly over at Ashi.

I cant let you do that~! She exclaimed in a sing-song voice, twirling her daggers within her hands. Lets go, sister! Ashi gritted her teeth together as the girl leapt into the air and began wildly slashing her blades down at the older woman, who twisted her glaive around to block and parry off the offending attacks.

Ashi! Sora shouted, distracted for a moment by watching his new-found friend battle the blonde girl with some difficulty. He forgot that his _own _hide was on the line at the moment that it allowed the young man the perfect chance to attack Sora.

He only caught the flash of steel out of the corners of his eyes just in time to barely bring his Keyblade up and defend against it. There was a loud clash of metal against metal, sparks flying off of their offending blades. Sora gritted his teeth as his arms began to quiver against the strain, as this man was much larger, much stronger, and better skilled then he was. Sora began to feel his feet give out slightly behind him, pushing him back.

Why were you chosen? The young man hissed in a cold, emotionless voice, Youre just a _kid_!

So what if Im a kid? Sora snapped back, managing to gather enough strength to shove the mans weapon off of his own. The man slashed at him again, Sora managing to catch and parry his blade away again, but only just barely. He gritted his teeth towards the taller man. And how should I know? I dont even know what this thing is!

More of a reason why you shouldnt have it! The man shouted, slicing his blade downwards again. He managed to cut into Soras knuckles on one of his hands, causing the boy to hiss loudly in pain and drop his hand to the side, but keeping his other hand firm against the hilt of his Keyblade. He was caught off guard for the next attack, as the man twisted his weapon around and hit Sora across the side of his head with the broad side of the Gunblade.

Sora found himself toppling off to the side in shock, the world spinning around him and moving as if he was in slow-motion. His body twisted around and landed hard on his back. Despite the initial blow to his head, Sora still gripped the Keyblade firmly within his hands. He groaned loudly and tried to right himself, and quickly discovered that this man wasnt content to just leave him there. Sora found the blade coming down towards him again, and managed to roll out of the away just in time. He heard the sword hit against the cobble stone ground below him, and pushed himself up to his feet with some effort, and faced the offending man.

Look, it was _given _to me! Sora shouted over at Mr. Broody-Pants, glaring in his direction. I dont know why or how, but Im not going to give it to you! Shouting loudly, he swung his Keyblade out in a wide arc towards the man, who quickly dodged out of the way. With no way to recover from his lunge, he felt the young mans elbow contact with Soras spine, knocking the wind right out of him and sending him face-down into the ground again.

This time, the Keyblade slipped away from his fingers and skidded across the ground.

No--! Sora gasped, trying to gather his bearings to grab the weapon again. But, he was unable to move as the man placed his foot firmly between Soras shoulders, and he felt the cold, hard tip of the mans Gunblade against the nape of his neck.

Give it up. Youre no match for me, kid. Realizing that he was defeated, Sora stopped moving and relaxed against the ground. He sighed angrily and closed his eyes, balling his hands into fists. He hated to admit it, but this guy was way better then he was. Maybe even better then _Riku_.

_Riku_ Sora found himself thinking of his friend at this moment, _Where are you? How would you have handled something like this? Im too weak to know what to do_

Ashi, herself, found that this annoying girl was a bit of a handful. She was skilled with her daggers, but that wasnt what was giving her the problem; it was how damned _fast _the brat was. Ashi considered herself to be incredibly fast and powerful, but this girl had her matched in speed. And, given that her glaive was more of a mid-ranged weapon, the girl had the upper hand in melee combat, regardless.

But, she wasnt defeated yet. While she was dealing with this nuisance, Ashi kept glancing, out of the corners of her eyes, to make sure that Sora was alright. When she saw him knocked to the ground, her instincts kicked in, and she had to deal with this girl quickly if Sora was to walk away from this. Swinging her glaive out in a quick jab as a feint, and the girl fell for it. She went to block with her daggers, and while she did, Ashi changed her trajectory and twisted her glaive in her hand. She hit the girl square in the side with the flat side of her weapon, causing the girl to shriek with a startled gasp, and hurled into a near-by building wall. She crashed against it and left a sizable indent there, falling down to the ground as if she was just a rag doll.

Ashi wasted no time to come to Soras aid. Thrusting the butt of her weapon into the ground, she used it like a pole vault and hurled herself through the air with a battle cry. It was just enough to cause the man to turn in her direction, just as both of her feet made solid contact with his chest. He was knocked off of Sora and sent cascading through the air, where he managed to recover himself, flipping in the air and land on the ground, facing them. He skidded across the stone paths with one hand against the ground, the other holding his Gunblade behind him.

Ashi quickly helped Sora to his feet. Are you alright? She inquired as he hastily grabbed his Keyblade. He nodded his head in response, looking up at Ashi and grinned.

Yeah, Im fine! Sora chirped, beaming brightly at his new friend, That was really awesome, what you did, Ashi!

Compliments can come later. She responded coldly, causing Sora to drop his grin and his head to droop a bit. But, wellshe did have a point. They had to work together to defeat this guy! Holding his Keyblade firmly within his hands, Sora gave a nod towards Ashi and they rushed together towards the young man, who was now standing upright again.

All seriousness aside, Ashi was a damn good ally to have in combat. As if the previous times fighting those weird shadow creatures werent enough to say this, it was clear right now. Between the two of them, Sora and Ashi were giving this broody man a run for his money. She would slash, he would parry, and Sora would catch him while he was parrying; or vice-versa. They were driving him back rather easily, and Sora made a mental note to ask Ashi for some serious lessons after this.

He was amazed at how well they worked together. It was almost like they had been fighting together all their lives; like a well-oiled machine, almost. Ashi and Sora read off of each others moves very well and made accurate predictions to what the other was doing, and formulating the best strategy of attack from there. Or, maybe it was just Ashis sheer knowledge of combat that she was able to read Soras movements, and he was only _assuming _that he was following her lead, too. But there was little time to think, especially when Ashi successfully disarmed the man with her weapon, tossing his Gunblade aside. He soon found two pairs of blades pointing at him.

Weve got you outmatched, Ashi informed coldly, with Sora nodding in response to her claim.

Or so you think! Came the young girls voice from behind them, Sora turning his body fast enough to catch her daggers against his Keyblade, sliding them off to the side. Were not going to give up until you give us the Key!

Hmph, this is getting tiresome Ashi muttered as the man had enough time, with the distraction, to grab his weapon again.

Just give it up, and then you can rest easily. The man stated.

Im sure you know we wont. Ashi replied.

Then youll have to utterly defeat us. Ashi only narrowed her eyes in response to the young mans statement, lifting her glaive up into a readied position, and he did the same. All four players squared off with each other, neither side willing to give up.

_Stop this at once_!

All four heads turned in direction of the hotel to the side of the square they were fighting in, seeing a young woman about Ashis age, if not a little older with wispy shoulder-length brown hair and elegant looking Japanese clothing. Her split eyes, one green and one blue, looked down at the group with both anger and distain.

Yunie! The blonde girl exclaimed up at the older woman.

We all should be fighting the _Heartless_, not each other! The woman scolded.

But hes not going to give us the Key! The girl protested with a whine and a stamp of her foot.

And she insists on _defending _him. The man explained, shooting a cold glare over towards Ashi, who returned his gaze.

It doesnt matter. The young woman said, still in a scolding tone of voice, her brows furrowed, Our enemy is _not _them, but the darkness that lurks around in every corner.

For a moment, the man and the girl glanced at each other. The girl pursed her lips together and looked up at him, a mixture of worry and determination painted across her green-swirled eyes. The man grimaced slightly at that expression and, reluctantly, lowered his sword down to a relaxed position. He rose a hand up to his face, just over his scar and closed his eyes. He sighed.

Fine. He grumbled in a rather sour tone. With a nod of her head, the girl twisted her daggers around and slipped them into seethes at her sides. She turned to Ashi and Sora and smiled an awkward, yet somehow re-assuring smile.

We better listen to what Yunie says, She informed, She knows more about this then we do! With that, she began to trot up the stairwell leading to the balcony over-looking them. The man, begrudgingly, followed after.

Sora glanced up at Ashi for a moment, noticing that her face was still hard and unreadable, as he noted it to commonly look like. She didnt seem to relax all that much, but there was a subtle change within her position that he couldnt point out. Slowly, he reached a hand out and touched her arm lightly.

We dont need to fight them, do we? He asked quietly.

Ashi remained silent, opting to sling her glaive over her shoulder as she did before, holding the long weapon against it. She started towards the stairwell that lead up to where the brunette women was standing. Soras brows furrowed slightly and quickly followed after her. Was she always so cold and emotionless?

Quickly, The woman informed, opening a door for them leading to the Inn, We must get inside of the Arcane Barrier before more Heartless appear!

A few moments later, the woman lead the group into a red room, lined with glowing glyphs at two-foot intervals, surrounding the entire parameter of the room. Once everyone was inside, the woman closed the door and walked to the center of the room, clasping her hands before her. Softly, she began to chant as a glowing circle of magikal power formed below her feet, tracing its way around her and pulsating with energy. As she did so, the glyphs lining the room flashed and lit up, then released energy between them, forming an iridescent barrier around the room. The shield faded slightly as the woman lowered her hands and the magikal glyph below her feet vanished.

Now the Heartless can not hurt us.

We had everything under control, Yuna, The man hissed as he walked to one corner of the room, leaning his blade and then himself against the glowing barrier around them.

You took it to the extreme, Squall! The woman, Yuna, shouted.

The man sneered, I told you to _stop calling _me that, Yuna.

Hiding your true name will not allow you to run from the past. Yunas tone was still fierce as she spoke. Squall only lifted his hand up to his face again in response. Sighing softly, she turned to Ashi and Sora. Yuna bowed gently at her waist and rose back up. Please excuse my friends. I am Yuna, a High Summoner from a different world. This is Squa-- I mean, _Leon_, and my cousin, Rikku.

Pleased to meet you! The girl, Rikku, chirped brightly with a wide smile on her face.

For a moment, Sora looked aghast at the name, totally stunned when he heard it. R-Rikku? He inquired nervously, eyeing the bubbly teenaged girl. She smiled even more and nodded her head.

Yep! Thats me!

Um Well, she _certainly _wasnt the Riku that Sora knew. When he received a quizzical expression from Rikku, he smiled awkwardly at her and scratched the back of his head. Errits just that Im looking for my best friends, Kairi and Riku, so Im a littlestunned, I guess? That you have the same name and all

OohI can see how that can be confusing! Rikku chimed in, Well, if it helps, just call me Ri, so as not to confuse you! Pausing, she tilted her head to the side and tapped a finger to her chin. Sowhats your name?

Oh, me? Sora blinked, then smiled, Im Sora, and shes Ashi. Ashi remained still and silent, lingering behind Sora like some kind of a watch-dog. It kind of gave him the creeps to have her hover like that, but he wasnt going to _say _it, of course. Rikku looked at Ashi with a curious expression, though it quickly changed to one of discomfort. She scurried over to Yuna and practically hid behind her.

She scares me Rikku muttered to her cousin. Yuna glanced down at Rikku with a concerned look, almost if she knew why Rikku was scared of her; but said nothing, then turned back to Sora and Ashi. Clasping her hands before her, Yuna bowed to them respectively.

Very pleased to meet you, She said softly, I am sorry for the way Leon and Rikku treated you, as it wasnt their true intentions to bring you any harm.

Hey, its no problem! Sora smiled, Saywhy _were _you guys attacking me, anyway?

Because you have the Key. Leon commented sharply. The curt response caused the hair on the back of Soras neck to bristle, shooting a glare towards the older man. He didnt need to be so _rude _about it! Leon kept his facial expression the same, which only infuriated Sora more. It took a hand upon his shoulder from Ashi to bring Sora back to the real world, seeing her hard face.

Eh? Sora blinked, taking a moment to remember what was going on. Oh. Lifting his hand out, he called forth the Keyblade out, curling his fingers around the hilt and eyeing it with curiosity. You mean this thing? What is it, anyway?

The Key is the most important item within the cosmos, Yuna explained, It chooses its own master, a being with the strongest Heart in all the worlds combined, and holds untold power that even I do not know the full meaning of. It, alone, has the power to truly defeat the Heartless and drive the Darkness back into its fold.

Sora blinked his eyes and lifted the weapon up, examining it. It didnt look like anything special, just an oversized key that could be used just like a sword. He shook it in his hands and it didnt do anything but shake. Nothing special, right? This thing is really that important? He questioned, lifting his gaze up to Yuna again.

It sure is! Rikku chirped.

Butit chooses its own master? Why did it choose me? Sora inquired, his gaze towards Yuna with a confused expression. She seemed to pick up on this, giving a gentle shake of her head.

As I have said, it chooses a being whose Heart is stronger then all other Hearts within the cosmos, Yuna said softly, Even I dont know what qualifies that, but you must hold more power then you think, Sora. Whenever Darkness comes to consume all of the Worlds, the Keyblade appears and chooses who will wield it to drive the Darkness back. But, because the Key is so powerful, those who wield it find that Darkness is drawn _to _them to destroy them in their place.

We were trying to get it _away _from you, Sora. Rikku said. In that moment, her usual chipper personality melted away to reveal that this was, indeed, a serious matter; Its for your own safety!

WellI guess if it puts me in danger Sora mused, glancing up at Leon in his emo-corner. Twisting the Keyblade around, he held the hilt out for Leon to grab. Go ahead. I mean, why didnt you guys say so in the first place?

Because Leon is a big doo-doo head! Rikku hissed, receiving a cold glare from the solitary man. Leon pushed himself from the wall and approached Sora, reaching out for the Keyblade. He hesitated for a moment, realizing how great this gift was and its importance; but remained vigilant and grasped it within his own hands. He studied the weapon, also wondering what made it so special, but he did not get long to see it. Less then ten seconds of holding it, the Keyblade vanished within a burst of light and re-appeared in Soras hands. Leon sighed unhappily, resuming his usual oh-so-angsty pose.

I suppose youre going to tell me I told you so, Yuna.

It appears as if the Keyblade has already chosen, Yuna informed, No one but Sora can wield it, for he is the one and only Keyblade Master. He alone has the power to defeat the Darkness and restore Light to the cosmos once again.

Sora once again blinked in disbelief, glancing at the Keyblade, then looking up to Yuna with a shocked expression. Me? Why was it that he had the power to wield the Keyblade and do all of this really important stuff? He was just a 14 year old boy! He hardly had any combat training on his Island, he never even _knew _that other worlds existed beyond his Island until today! Why did he become this legendary Keyblade Master? It just didnt make sense!

Sora was jostled out of his thoughts when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder once again. Slowly, he looked up to Ashi, who looked down into his bright blue eyes with her intense violet ones. In that one glance, his resolve shook, his questioning vanished as he saw her intense gaze; and somehow, her usually hard eyes seemed to soften. For that moment, Sora couldnt tear his eyes from hers.

You cannot question Destiny, She said softly, then looked up to the trio surrounding them, For Destiny has a way of choosing you. Somehow, someway, you were given this responsibility, Sora. She returned her gaze to him, You should trust in yourself and whatever Powers That Be for giving you this responsibility. Im sure there is a good reason for why you were given this task alone.

And dont worry! Rikku said brightly, Youre going to have lots of help along the way! Youve got us and Ashi, right?

Sora looked down at the Keyblade within his hands. Once again, he examined this seemingly ordinary piece of metal that felt somehowwarm between his fingers. Closing his eyes, he remembered what the voice had told him in his dreams: He was the one to open the doorand the Darkness could not hurt him if he kept a hold of his Light. Maybe there _was _a reason why he was the Keyblade Master, he would just have to _find _what that reason was, somehow.

Slowly, he lifted his head and opened his eyes. Okay. He said, his voice strong and determined, Ill just have to deal with the Darkness coming at me, and strike through it! It cant scare me. He remembered that, moments before his Island disappeared, Riku told Sora that the Darkness didnt scare him. Sora would just have to face it as well! He _could_ be strong, just like Riku!

Ashi released her hand from Soras shoulder and glanced over at Leon. Leon, I was sent by the Emperor Masaki Tenchi Jurai to find the Key, protect the Key, and to find you as well. I get the feeling that you, and your friends, know more about whats going on then I do. What are the Heartless that you keep on mentioning, and what about the Worlds disappearing?

Ah, the Emperor informed me that his Royal Guard would be coming, Leon muttered dryly, eyeing Ashi up and down with a scrutinizing gaze, Though I _had _expected someone a bit _different_.

Ashi scoffed. Like a man? Leon didnt say anything to affirm or reject this phrase, which clearly answered her question. She glared over at him as she spoke in a cold tone, I may be young and a woman, but I am the strongest of the Royal Guard on Jurai. I can handle myself.

Not wanting to let the animosity between Ashi and Leon go on any further, Sora butted in; So what about the Heartless, then? Yuna gave a soft chuckle, though her face became serious moments later.

The Heartless are just what their name implies; beings without Hearts. She informed, and upon witnessing the puzzled expression on Soras face, she chuckled softly and continued. Every being within the cosmos has a Heart, which is their entire essence. It is where their soul, their memories, their personality, and their powers come from. Without a Heart, you are nothing, a _nobody_ in the end, your body changing form into that of pure Darkness. Those without a Heart are called Heartless, beings of the shadow that seek out the Darkness within others Hearts. It is the Darkness that attracts them; but they are also drawn to the Light given off by your Keyblade, Sora, because it means their doom should you live. I cannot say how many of them truly exist and how many worlds they have infested, but they are a massive threat.

The world that we come from had a wise Sage known as Ansem who performed extensive research upon the Heartless. Yuna went on to continue, We only know enough to defend ourselves, but the amount he written down is said to be phenomenal in its context. Perhaps if you could find it, you could learn far more about the Heartless then what we know.

So where is it? Sora asked, curious about the report.

Our World got destroyed, Rikku said grimly, a change from her usual cheerful disposition, Just like yours did, Im sure. The report was lost when our world got destroyed! It exists in pieces all throughout the cosmos!

We do have one page, Yuna added on, Its not much, but it does inform you about Worlds. Reaching into her long sleeve, Yuna withdrew a sheet of paper and walked over to Sora, handing it to him. Each World has a Door that connects it to other Worlds. If this door is opened, it allows for travel between Worldsbut also allows for the Heartless to come into it. Should the Heartless completely over-run a worldit leads to its ultimate destruction Her face grew grave and her voice pain-filled as she said this, Just like ours.

For a moment, Sora looked down to the floor as well. All of this talk of the Heartless and the destruction of Worlds hit hard for him, given that his _own _disappeared just yesterday. Just then, he could have been running on the beaches, play-fighting with his friends, watching the sunset with Kairi and Rikusailing off over the horizon for new adventure. Now it wouldnt happen again. But...he had to move on. There were many other worlds out there, in danger, just like his own!

And he had to find his friends!

Sora lifted his head up, a look of pure determination on his face. Ill do whatever it takes to keep that from happening again! He declared, I promise, Ill take on the Heartless and defeat the Darkness and save _all _of the Worlds out there plagued by them! And maybe, just maybe, he could find his friends again! Somewhere, he just _knew _that they were out there, waiting for him! This little set-back wouldnt stop him!

However, this little heroic stature of his dropped when something began to claw against the front door of the room they were in. Yuna gasped as she looked over to the door, seeing that the Heartless where beginning to claw their way through, bursting through the door and putting pressure on her barrier. Instantly, Leon and Rikku withdrew their weapons again, while Yuna pulled out an elegant stave.

This barrier will not last long against a full-on attack! She shouted, gesturing towards the untouched back door, We need to get out of here before the Heartless swamp us! With a flick of her wrist, she called the barrier down over a door in the back of the room and quickly rushed to it, flinging it open. Quickly!

The group quickly fled from the room and landed into the back-ally behind them, which was already quickly-filling with Heartless. Sora gritted his teeth together. Were they all just appearing because of _him_? Was this all his fault?

No!

He couldnt think like that! Sora took in his self-guilt and landed on the ground below, swinging his Keyblade around in a wide circle and taking out a group of Heartless in one blow. He would just have to do what he said; cleave through the Darkness and put an end to this! He was determined to succeed!

More over, several other forms of Heartless were appearing besides the shadow-bug like things. Sure, they were still shadowy-looking, but they were coming in all kinds of varieties now! Some of them wore armor, others were different-colored in red, blue and green, which began to cast magik spells across the field; and even huge ones that looked like they could _eat _Sora for dinner!

Ashi landed beside Sora and lifted her Glaive up, releasing a wave of black flame from it and destroying a group of Heartless before her. There are more of them then ever She said sternly, her face intense and focused.

Leon and Rikku began their own side of the battle as well; Leon slashed and hacked away at the Heartless with his Gunblade and occasionally cast fire-based magik from time to time, while Rikku used her insane speed to cut through them and strike them when they least suspected. Yuna appeared to be a more supportive character, casting a shield around herself while she released bolts of pure white energy around her, easily disbursing the Heartless.

Its no use! Leon shouted over the chaos, Well need to find their leader to get the numbers down! Theyll keep on increasing until its defeated!

But how do we get past? Sora exclaimed, swinging his Keyblade around and cutting into the Heartless before him. Already, he could feel the fatigue setting in once again, a painful reminder that he was not ready for such intense battles.

Allow me to clear a path. Yuna clasped her hands in front of her and began to perform several flowing arm-movements, whispering below her breath. The skies above Traverse Town began to darken and the ground began to rumble as several magikal glyphs appeared in the heavens. Diving down from the clouds and bursting through the glyphs came a mighty dragon, adorned in multi-colored feathers, who landed beside Yuna. Please Bahamut, clear a path for us!

The dragon hunched over onto its front legs and a large wheel upon its back began to spin rapidly. Ashi glanced over her shoulder and grabbed onto Soras shoulder, gesturing for them to get back behind the dragon. Sora gave a nod in agreement, not really wanting to stand in the way of whatever-the-heck the summon was charging, and hurried back with the others.

Opening its mouth, the dragon released a massive beam of prism-colored energy, tearing through all of the Heartless within its wake, and quite a bit of the ground and sides of the ally way in an incredibly impressive, powerful, and very very destructive display. Sora was only left to gape in wonder as he saw the dragon blow everything to hell and back, and quite effectively, too.

Quickly! Yuna urged as the attack died down, leaving the path clear, Sora, Ashi, you must continue onwards! We will take care of things here.

But--" Sora was about to protest, but noted the intensity of Yunas expression. He quickly shut his mouth and nodded his head. He took off past the path that the dragon had cleared for them, quickly slashing his Keyblade out to knock off a newly-spawned Heartless as he and Ashi left the ally way and into a different section of town. It was filled with bright lights and, much like the other areas of the town, it was completely deserted.

Not even any Heartless were lurking around; just the ones springing up in the ally they left behind, fended off by Leon, Rikku and Yuna to prevent them from getting to Ashi and Sora.

To this, Sora glanced around the oddly-silent area. Why arent the Heartless here?

There is a great Darkness here Ashi said coldly, her eyes narrow and her face stern. I cant pinpoint it, but its here, somewhere.

Could this be the Leader of the Heartless Leon talked about? Sora asked, looking desperately up at Ashis stoic and emotionless face. For a moment, just once, he would like to see her lose that cold expression and cheer up a little bit. But, now was hardly the time as he glanced around the deathly-silent area they stood in. This is too quiet for me

No sooner did he say that did a bunch of the shadow-like Heartless began to appear all around them, encircling the duo completely. Great. Wish I hadnt said it Sora muttered as he charged head-long into the fray.

Wait! Ashi shouted, causing Sora to stop dead in his tracks, before he could even reach them. Theyre not attacking us Blinking his blue eyes, Sora glanced around him and noticed it too. They remained still and motionless, their glowing little buggy-eyes starting at Ashi at him, but they didnt move to attack. They juststood there, as if awaiting a command.

Then, suddenly, one of them burst into wisps of black smoke, the smoke slowly circling upwards above Ashi and Soras heads. The one next to it did the same thing, and the one after that, and the one after that. They created a chain of black explosions with the shadowy energy that made up each Heartless gathering above the courtyard. Sora deemed it wise to move away from where the shadow as gathering, and Ashi quickly followed suit.

Once the final Heartless disappeared, the shadows gathered together and created a solid mass; quickly crashing down before the heroes. It formed the shape of a massive suit of purple armor, the chest adorned with that strange symbol that seemed to be associated with the Heartless. Each piece of the armor seemed to move of its own accord; its two arms, two legs, head and torso, and it did not look ready to play around.

This has to be their leader! Ashi shouted.

Sora gave a nod of his head and held his Keyblade ready. Lets go!

It seemed like this Keyblade thing just attracted trouble, as the first move the armored Heartless made was to strike Sora. Given how big and burly the arm was, he wasnt expecting it to be so damn _fast_-- and next thing he knew, Sora was flying through the air and crashing against one of the walls surrounding the courtyard they were in. Only then did the pain set in as he slid down the wall in a heap, groaning loudly. It felt like that arm just turned all of his bones into cottage cheese. Stars floated above his vision, and somewhere in the distance, he heard Ashi shouting something was that his name? It sounded so far away, like she was speaking through a tube, and he couldnt understand anything of what she said.

Once the stars vanished, Sora lifted his head up to see the arm reading for another attack towards him. It was clear that this shot would probably kill him, and Sora knew he had not the strength to avoid it in the current state he was in.

But the fist never hit him. It took a moment for Sora to realize that Ashi was standing before him, _protecting _him, and to see her purple figure shoot off in another direction. The first embedded her further into the wall then it had Sora, and seeing her form smash against the wall suddenly got his heart pumping.

She had gotten herself injured for _him!_ To _save _him!

The adrenalin suddenly kicked in just as Ashi hit the floor, Sora springing to his feet and suddenly feeling no pain. Ashi! He cried out, but didnt see her move. Baring his teeth, his attention snapped towards the giant Heartless before him. With a yell that he himself didnt know he could unleashed, Sora sprung into action and charged at the armored creature before him.

The Heartless swung its fist again, just as fast as before, and managed to graze Sora in his charge. Sora tumbled to the ground and did a roll, swinging his Keyblade up as the arm returned, dragging the tip of the blade along the armor. The most sickening screeching sound came from the metal grinding against metal, the Keyblade leaving a large gash along the underside of the arm.

The arm twitched and jerked up from Sora before he could continue, moving to slam down towards the ground. Sora quickly found his footing and jumped out of the way as the fist hit the ground, creating a large shockwave. The force of the punch knocked him clean off of his feet, falling flat onto his face. The Keyblade flew from his fingers and clattered against the stone ground.

Already, Sora could see the shadow of the hand loom over him. This time, he didnt have the time to dodge. Squeezing his eyes shut, he waited for the blow to hit him.

But it never came.

Slowly, Sora opened his eyes and turned his head towards the floating arm, to see that it had been caught in placealmost as if something was _holding _it there. He wasnt sure what was going on, but just then the Keyblade returned to his hand and he took his chance while he had it.

Swinging the Keyblade, Sora jabbed it forward and straight into the palm of the armored hand, releasing a wave of burning fire inside of the armor to strike the Heartless below. What followed was a most astounding explosion; the armor shattered and flew every-which-way, and the entire shadowy hand disbursed into wisps of smoke, vanishing from sight. Sora quickly lowered his Keyblade and raised his arms to defend from the flying shards of metal.

Once again, they never hit him; instead, they panged off of a glowing green shield that surrounded him. Sora blinked his eyes and looked around, wondering who made it. _Did Ashi?_

No time to sit around daydreaming! Came a voice from above. Sora wondered who it was, but he didnt have time to think about such matters. Not when the feet were slamming hard into the ground and creating massive shockwaves!

This time, Sora saw the attack coming and braced himself, stumbling backwards when the wave hit him, but this time he managed to remain on his feet. From somewhere above, he saw something glinting in the evening lights of the city; something moving sharply and swiftly through the courtyard, wrapping around the remaining arm. The arm stopped moving completely, tugged into place by whatever it was that he saw.

Squinting, Sora saw thin lines wrapped around the armored arm, spanning up towards one balcony above him. Following the lines, he saw the figure of a girl maybe only a year older then he was holding something in her hands. He couldnt really make out her features, but whoever she was, she appeared to be on their side.

Thats when he remembered there were _other_ pieces of the Heartless floating around, just as one of the feet kicked him to the side. He let out a gasp of pain as he went tumbling across the pavement, rolling into another wall with a loud _thud_. It wasnt as bad as his first shock, but it still sent a wave of pain through his body. Sora grunted and quickly righted himself, pushing himself off of the ground.

Hey, time to wake up and smell the coffee! The girl from the balcony shouted, her voice strained, I cant hold the arm _forever_!

Glancing up, Sora saw that the arm was twitching and tugging the thin lines that held it in place. The girl was gritting her teeth and her arms were beginning to shake against the strain, her feet slowly dragging towards the edge of the balcony. Ignoring the pain that was coursing through his body, Sora found the strength to leap off of the ground and swing his Keyblade up, driving the blunt of it down against the palm of the hand. The blade became stuck between the fingers of the twitching arm, and he struggled to pry it free.

Thats when he saw a violet shadow leap from the ground and attack the arm from the opposite side. The blade of Ashis glaive glowed with a pulsating violet light, and began to cleave through the arm like a hot knife through butter. Sora managed to find the strength to lift his body upwards, allowing Ashis attack to cut all the way through and release him. In a moment, he felt the energy slice just inches below him, and the sensation of falling quickly came after.

A singular strong arm wrapped around his waist and drew him in. Ashi held Sora firmly against her, landing safely on the ground just as the two pieces of the arm came crashing down. Soras head was conveniently resting against her soft, ample cleavage, which only caused him to completely lose focus and flush deeply as she gently set him down.

Are you alright? She inquired, her voice a little bit softer then normal. Sora looked up at her and nodded quickly. He stumbled about his words for a moment before he managed to squeeze out a coherent phrase.

W-what about you? Sora managed to shudder out, still flushed with embarrassment.

Ill be fine, Ashi assured, despite her bruised-and-battered form; and then glanced up towards the balcony, Its about damn time you showed up, Shidou.

Hey, I couldnt let you guys have _all _the fun now, right? The girl chuckled, leaping from the balcony and landing beside the duo. She stood a few inches above Sora and had jet black hair that reached past her shoulder blades, flipping outwards at the tips with four thick green streaks in her bangs. Her eyes were a bright aqua color Sora noted how similar they were to Rikus and she wore an array of black, white and green. The strange objects she held in her hands looked like giant green Yo-Yos, onlythey each had three spiked blades coming out of them. Sorry for taking so long, Shi, but its _kinda _been difficult trying to get around in this city with all of these baddies lurking around!

Excuses later, Ashi hissed, the girl pouting slightly at this firm command, We still have this Heartless to kill.

The girl, Shidou, cocked a smirk and leaped into battle. She released the Yo-Yos from her hands and began to flail them around, bringing their long strands around her as she spun in a rapid circle. Sora gawked at how skilled she was with such an odd weapon; watching her shoot towards the body. The blades of her weapon began to slice into the torso and head of the giant Heartless, gradually slashing away at the violet armor that protected it.

Shidou then stopped spinning and lifted her arms up, causing her Yo-Yos to raise above her head. She snapped her arms down and wrapped the string around the head and pulled herself towards it. Planting her feet against the face of the Heartless, she thrust her legs upward and threw the head into the air. With supreme skill, she lashed her arms around and brought the head into a spiral pattern, then abruptly threw her arms downwards and sent the head crashing into the ground. The head shattered into several pieces, releasing thin wisps of smoke as it was destroyed. Shidou snapped her hands and called the Yo-Yos back and landed on the balcony again.

As soon as Shidou began to attack the head, Ashi took off running and used her glaive as a pole-vault and hurled herself towards the damaged torso. Twisting it around, she buried the blade of her weapon into the large gash in the center of the torso that Shidou had created. Black lighting surged down her glaive and entered into the Heartless. Quickly, Ashi removed her glaive and pushed herself off, landing besides the still-gawking Sora. Black lightning began to surge around the torso. Casually, she lifted a hand and snapped her fingers, causing the energy to rapidly combust, engulfing the torso in black-and-violet energy. It created a sizable explosion and completely destroyed the torso.

Whoa Sora managed to mutter. Their team work was amazing!

Stop gaping and fight! Ashi commanded, causing the younger boy to flinch considerably. Leaning her glaive against her shoulder, she held her palms out and released a wave of violet energy, encasing the legs within a thick layer of black ice. Use your fire to rapidly heat up the frozen legs. Itll cause them to become brittle and shatter with ease.

Sora, not wanting to question Ashis judgment and greater knowledge of battle strategies, did as he was told. Giving a nod of his head, he held his palms out and focused on the warm energy that churned within him, forcing it to become hot and to give it physical form.

Focus harder.

Apparently, the flame wasnt hot enough for Ashis standards. It continued to glow within Soras palms, turning into a large fireball. He wasnt quite sure what she meant by focus harder, but he tried none-the-less. It was difficult to make the flame stronger or brighter, since he didnt know how the process worked per-say; he just knew how to call it out.

Suddenly, Sora felt Ashi behind him and her hands went to his, resting over them. Dont focus on the form as much, Sora, Ashi instructed calmly, her breath close to Soras ear, causing the boy to flush softly, The form isnt what matters. Focus on the _feeling _that made it; see it through the flames eyes. Dont think about what makes the flame, become the flame. Let the magik flow through you.

The fireball suddenly began to rapidly increase in size. As it did, Sora realized that he felt Ashis own energy coursing through his veins, feeling the sheer strength of her will and of her magik flowing through him. The churning orange-and-yellow flames of his own magik and the licking violet-and-black flames of hers began to mingle together as the blast grew until it was about the size of a beach ball.

Ashis fingers curled around his wrists and thrust his arms forward, releasing the massive churning fireball towards the frozen legs. The fire hit the ice dead on and created a massive explosion of ice and flame, and sending a bright shockwave through the area. Sora would have stumbled to his feet if it werent for Ashi standing behind him.

The armor shattered and the Heartless had been completely destroyed. The darkness slowly dissipated into the air, and as it did a crystal-like heart floated into the sky, ascending to the stars above.

With the Heartless gone, all of the adrenaline that had been pumping through Soras veins suddenly stopped, and he was quickly over-come with fatigue and pain. Groaning, he stumbled backwards and lost his footing, the Keyblade vanishing from his hands. Ashi caught him and gently lowered him to the ground, placing his head in her lap.

Its finally over Sora chuckled through some pain, realizing how horribly banged-up he probably was right now. His side ached from where that stupid foot had kicked him, and his entire insides felt like it had been turned into delicious Heartless pudding. More over, he was absolutely _exhausted_ from the non-stop fighting that he had been going through since he wound up in Traverse Town, and the pain didnt help that fact at all.

How are you feeling? Ashi asked, You look like hell itself.

II kind of feel that way, actually Sora laughed again, though was reminded of the pain in his side as it stabbed sharply against him with his laughter.

Shidou landed beside them and tucked her Yo-Yos away, Someone isnt used to fighting! She giggled, holding her hands out. Cure! Green light surrounded Sora and Ashi, and in that moment he felt totally fine. Wellexcept he was _still _pretty exhausted after all of that. Whoever Shidou was, she was obviously as gifted within the magikal arts as Ashi was.

Thank you, Shidou, Ashi commented coolly, and with a snap of her hand recalled her glaive. It appears that destroying that giant Heartless has calmed the surrounding ones considerably. I can hardly feel their presence. As she said this, she rose to her feet.

Sora pushed himself off of his back and into a seated position with a bit of a groan, really wishing that he could take a _nap_ right about now. He was startled when he saw Shidous hand come out and hold itself before him as a gesture to help him to his feet. Reaching out, he took her hand and she yanked him up, and then gave him a hardy pat on the back.

The gesture nearly sent Sora face-first into the pavement again. Whoa! He stumbled forward, but thankfully he had at _least _enough energy to keep himself from falling. Phew

Jeez, kiddo! Shidou laughed, Youre really banged up, huh?Youre really not used to fighting!

Hey, who are you calling a kiddo? Sora squawked, looking accusingly over at the taller girl, You cant be much older then I am! To this, Shidou cocked a smirk and placed her hands on her hips, looming over him.

_Unless_ you happen to be older then 947, youre a kiddo to me, kid!

Soras jaw nearly hit the floor when he heard that. N-nine hundred andwhat? How is that even possible? You cant seriously be--

Jurains age much slower then most humans, Ashi informed calmly, drawing Soras attention over to her, They live several _millennia_ if they are healthy. Shidou may be 947, but shes at about the same mental capacity as you are, Sora.

Hey now Shidou chuckled, I dont think Im as dumb as this kid is! She reached out and ruffled Soras hair playfully, and received a cold glare in response.

Hey! Who says that Im stupid?

Children, please. Ashi gave an exasperated sigh, reaching her hand up and rubbing her temples. Do I need to put you both into time-out?

No, maam. Shidou giggled. Sora only pouted in response.

Im not a child He grumbled below his breath.

We best be leaving, Ashi said and was about to leave, when something dawned on her. She blinked her eye a few times, then turned back to the duo behind her. Ohand Shidou, this is Sora. He is the _key _that his Majesty sent us to find and to protect. Sora, this is Shidou, my second-in-command.

Pleasure to meet you, kid! Shidou chirped.

Yeahcould you stop calling me kid? Its getting annoying! Sora pouted again, but only received a chipper grin in response. He sighed and hung his head, realizing that there would probably be no-way to get through to Shidou on the whole kid and child and dumb thing. However, in his doom-and-gloom state, he recalled his own, personal quest. Lifting his head up, he looked over to Shidou. HeyShidou? I was wondering if youve seen my friends anywhere.

Um. Shidou blinked and scratched the back of her head, What do they look like? I wandered through this entire town, so many Ive seen them!

My friends are named Riku and Kairi. Rikus a boy, a little older then me with silver hair and eyes kind of like yours, and Kairi is a girl, a little younger then I am with kind of redish brown hair and blue eyes. They disappeared from my Island before it was destroyed

Shidou lifted her eyes to the sky and tapped a finger against her chin thoughtfully. Hmm After debating for a moment, she returned her gaze to Soras, her eyes apologetic. Im sorry, Sora, I cant say I have.

Oh.

Sora drooped his head down again and sighed. It seemed as if no-one had seen either Riku or Kairi anywhere, not since his Island was destroyed. He was beginning to lose hope that he would ever find them again, or if the whole thing was some kind of adream, a nightmare created by his psyche when he somehow fled his world. That they really _where _lost there or

Sora was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Lifting his gaze, he found the hand belonged to Ashi, who store down into his eyes. Her face was as serious and expressionless as always, but her eyes seemed somehowsofter then they usually were. It surprised him a bit, since he hadnt seen her eyes lose their usual cold stare in the short time that he had known her.

Sora, if you believe in your heart that they are out there, somewherethen we will find them. I am sure of it.

Sora found himself smiling weakly at Ashi. ThanksI wont give up! Well find them, right? Ashi gave a gentle nod of her head, and Shidou gave an enthusiastic thumbs up. That made Sora feel a little better, knowing that he had some new friends that were determined to stick with him and find those closest to his heart.

Now then Shidou raised her arms and folded them behind her head, grinning broadly, Weve got introductions out of the way, and weve found what his Majesty wanted us to find! Weve beaten the baddie and saved the day, yadda yadda yadda. Sowhat next?

We must find the Emperor, Ashi lifted her hand from Soras shoulder and gazed over at Shidou, I know not of where to look, but somehow I feel as if the Heartless are apart of it. Andwe need to find Soras friends, too.

So off to wherever the wind takes us? Shidou commented.

I suppose

Alright! Lets get going! Sora grinned, finding new excitement. He would find Riku and Kairi he would! and more over, he had a chance to explore new worlds! Ohif only they were here right now and experiencing what he was! I want to see what else is out there!

Very well, then, Ashi commented, picking up Ryo-Ohki, who had cowered during the battle. But Sora, dont expect that the trip to new worlds will be an easy one. You need to _train _if you are to keep up with Shidou and I, as well as the Heartless.

Sora dropped his enthusiastic pose and nodded his head. I understand, I guess. Im not used to fighting this much

Youll do swell! Shidou chirped, Ashi here is an excellent tutor!

Sora grinned and nodded his head. Somehowthe thought of training with Ashi didnt seem too bad, even though apart of him dreaded it. Plus, it would pass the time between Worlds and keep his mind off of the whereabouts of Riku and Kairiand off of what all of this meantthe Heartless and the disappearance of Worlds

And somehow, he knew that they would all be together again, someday.


End file.
